Trump swipes at Harris' intelligence, pans Biden's stance on Israel during Michigan visit

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump campaigned Friday in Auburn Hills and Hamtramck, seeking to pick off Arab American voters and auto workers from Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the battleground state of Michigan.

Trump gave a brief speech inside a Republican office in Hamtramck, where he appeared with the city's mayor, Amer Ghalib, and retired Ford Motor Co. worker Brian Pannebecker, founder of a group called Auto Workers for Trump.The former president visited Hamtramck before speaking at a 5 p.m. event inside a manufacturing business in Auburn Hills.

The former president's plane landed at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport at about 2:30 p.m. Moments later, he told reporters that receiving the endorsement of Ghalib, who is Muslim and a Yemeni immigrant, was a "great honor."

Asked about Arab Americans' support, Trump said, "I don’t think they’re going to be voting her because she doesn’t know what she’s doing. I don’t see them voting for her. I don’t see a lot of people voting her. She’s not a smart person."

In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly called Harris, the nation's first female vice president, "stupid" and "dumb as a rock" and said she was "born" mentally impaired.

Trump participated in a roundtable conversation at Engineering Design Services Inc. early Friday evening in Auburn Hills. Later, he will hold a nighttime rally in Detroit's Huntington Place riverfront convention center.

Trump's visit to Hamtramck came as an ongoing war between Israel and Hamas continues to loom over the presidential race in Michigan, which has over 300,000 residents of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Some Arab American voters in the state have demanded Democratic President Joe Biden's administration secure a permanent ceasefire and halt arms sales to Israel.

But while speaking to reporters on the Detroit Metro Airport tarmac, Trump said Biden was trying to hold back Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel.“He probably should be doing the opposite,” Trump said.

Trump did not elaborate.

In Hamtramck, a historically Polish enclave surrounded by Detroit, Trump spoke briefly inside a Republican political office that’s being run by the Oakland County GOP.

Hamtramck has a diverse population of about 28,000 people. For about 70% of its residents, languages other than English are spoken in their homes, according to U.S. Census data. In January 2022, an all Muslim city council began serving in the city.

Ghalib asked Trump to respond to claims, the mayor said, Democrats were making that he would “come and deport” Hamtramck residents. More than 42% of Hamtramck's residents are foreign born, according to the Census Bureau.

“Fake news,” Trump replied.

“They never stop,” Trump added of Democrats.

About 80 people were in the Hamtramck office for Trump’s speech. The former president spoke in front of Trump signs that were posted on the walls. At one point, someone in the crowd shouted, "We trust you."

Pannebecker, the retired auto worker from Macomb County, cited the saying “walk softly but carry a big stick.”

“Nobody’s got a bigger stick than this guy right here,” Pannebecker said. “When he starts waving it around, people listen.”

At one point, Trump said he was surprised that Pannebecker knew about the large number of Hamtramck residents who work in auto plants. General Motors Co.'s electric vehicle assembly plant, Factory Zero, straddles both Detroit and Hamtramck.

“Do you have a little Arab blood in you?” Trump asked Pannebecker.

“These guys are good workers,” Pannebecker replied.

In a social media post Friday, state Rep. Abraham Aiyash, a Democrat from Hamtramck, blasted Trump.

"Donald Trump has never done a damn thing for working families in Detroit and Hamtramck," Aiyash wrote on X. "He is a lying, xenophobic, self-serving man who is unfit and unworthy of serving as POTUS."

In the February Democratic primary in Michigan, 101,623 ballots were cast for "uncommitted, in protest of Democratic President Joe Biden’s support of Israel in the ongoing war with Hamas. In Hamtramck, "uncommitted" got more votes than Biden in the presidential primary.

Harris has defended Biden's policies supporting Israel, while Democrats in the Uncommitted Movement have continued to withhold their support for her candidacy but said they would mobilize to defeat Trump in the Nov. 5 election. Harris has said Israel has right to defend itself while saying she and Biden were working to end the war in Gaza and to ensure Israel is secure, hostages are released and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security and freedom.

Harris also was campaigning in Michigan on Friday with stops in Grand Rapids, Lansing and Oakland County.

Michigan, with 15 electoral votes, is among seven battleground states that are expected whether Harris or Trump leads the country for the next four years.

Four years ago, Biden won Michigan over Trump by 3 percentage points, 51%-48%. But in 2016, Trump was victorious in the state, defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton by about 0.2% percentage points, 47.5%-47.3%.

Friday night's rally inside Huntington Place will be Trump's first stop in Detroit since he criticized the city during a speech about the future of the auto industry before the Detroit Economic Club on Oct. 10.

Trump labeled Detroit, Michigan's largest city, as more "developing" than "most places in China," and called it a "once great city." At another point, he used Detroit to characterize what will happen to the country if his Democratic opponent, Harris, wins the Nov. 5 election.

“It will be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president," Trump said. "You’re going to have a mess on your hands.”

His remarks drew immediate and continued opposition from Democrats.

During his remarks in Hamtramck, Trump highlighted auto plants that he claimed were being planned for Mexico but have since been scrapped.

“What I’ve done is I’ve saved Michigan,” Trump told the crowd in Hamtramck.